Sometimes you have to decide if the things you fill your mind with are really worth the anxiety they cause you.
"The news! Have you seen the news?! The state of our world! The virus! The election! There is pollution and people don't care about the environment! Not to mention all the angry people I see everyday! All the bad stuff happening to people on my FB wall! IT IS BAD EVERYWHERE, I CAN'T JUST BE HAPPY."
Oh my gosh. Are you exhausted yet? That is pretty much how I used to live. I complained on the daily and then at night when everyone else was sleeping, I was weeping. I hate to break it to you but here is the truth. You have to decide what is the most important thing to you. You have to decide if what you read and watch is more important than your peace of mind and joy. Look, I get it! I have been there! I justified my negative passions because I cared soooo much about the world! I am passionate about helping all the people, and at the time, I believed in certain politics that were the "best", and I was not going to rest until all the problems in the world were fixed. I would worry constantly about all the bad stuff in the news. Human trafficking? Poverty? Wars? Disease? Pretty much whatever the news shows and commercials peddled, I consumed and then passionately learned about, because I wanted to be "informed." Stay with me here. :) I have a point. The problem with what I call negative passions is that we literally create our own negativity, anxiety, and anger based on this "passion" and the justification of being informed. Of course, back then, I liked to talk about this stuff because I had all the information. But really what I had was just a bunch of words that someone in some office wrote for some news person to spew at the camera so I could ingest it into my thoughts! I was not informed. I was brainwashed into thinking that if I did not react, I must not care. And that, my friends, is the grand lie!" Caring more about stuff you read and watch than your own mental health is the REAL mental health issue. Because at the end of the day, those things are not happening in your home. They are likely not on your street, and most importantly, if you did not think about them, you would not even feel bad - because it is your thoughts and not those things that are causing you to feel like the world is coming to an end. The constant bombardment of our negativity creates an addiction to more and more negativity. The only way out is to stop doing it. Like really just STOP doing it. Eliminate all of it. Look, all the politicians you love, news you read, and causes you care about are not going to miss you. They don't know you. If you just turned away from those things and made yourself a passionate priority, you would feel so much better! The best thing you can do for yourself is to create a mindset that does not need to react to what is happening in the world. Can you still be compassionate? Yes! Can you still care and do what you can right where you are to help someone else? Yes! You can make a difference without negative passions. If you cannot imagine giving up your negative passions and not going back to them, you are probably as addicted as I used to be. Constantly pouring negativity into yourself is as detrimental to your health as smoking, eating a bad diet, drinking, and all the other addictions out there. I gave up my negative media passions nearly 20 years ago. I am still somewhat informed, meaning I see the headlines. I can understand what is happening. But it is not in my house. It is not in my head. I choose myself. I choose my peace. I choose to sleep instead of weep. I choose my health! And you should too. It is so worth having positive passions that actually give back to the world. It is so much better to be part of the good! Open your mind to the now. Learn what it feels like to eliminate all the b.s. out there and be in your own space. When you live a life full of positive passions, the energy you give back to the world is priceless. You will be inspired to help right where you are. You will feel love. You will feel joy. You can make your world a better place by starting with YOU. Love you!
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